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The following description was written by CohostAI:Every story worth its salt has a rhythm to it, a pace that carries the narrative forward, and Homestuck is no different. So, what did we feel about how the story unfolded? Was it too slow? Too fast? Just right? And how about that troll discourse? Engrossing or exhausting? We explore all this and more, including the herculean task of editing a narrative as complex as Homestuck. And then there are those compelling themes - kids and trolls, world-building, till death programming language. We didn't just read Homestuck, we lived it./end AI descriptionAnyway AI also said this is the nonbinary episode, but really it's the troll focused episode that is Act 5 Act 1 aka HivebentThe transcript for this episode was autogenerated and has not been edited outside of adding speaker names. Support the showEdited and music by DomiWebsiteNewsletterKo-fiDiscordTwitterYoutubeTumblrDomi's SoundcloudDomi's Ko-FiThe Unofficial Homsetuck CollectionFanstuck/Problematic Faves Submission FormStart your own podcast!
A Homestuck variety podcast! Topics include, but are far from limited to: analyzing gay subtext, reading and reviewing the text, talking about problematic faves, and getting fan creators on to talk about their work! Podcast art is by Kansas aka kansastuck on Twitter! Find me at LiveLaughStuck on Twitter, Tiktok, and Instagram!
Jackie: Hi and welcome back to
Live Laugh Stuck. My name is
Jackie aka Jax, my pronouns are
they, them, and I am here once
again with Moosey.
Moosie: Yay, hi, hi, my pronouns
are also they them.
Jackie: Yes, and I don't know
why that was such an ecstatic
yes.
Moosie: Yes, your pronouns are
also they them.
Jackie: I guess it's partially
because the episode with your
cousin just recently came out
and that was also another they
them. I don't know, it was just
a they them podcast.
Moosie: Non-binary culture is
reading Homestuck.
Jackie: I mean, yeah, it really
is So much so that it turned it
transed the creator. But we are
here for the very exciting to
some people, act 5, act 1. And I
say to some people because I'm
gathering from your very subtle
hints in the notes you sent me
that you weren't a huge fan.
Moosie: Yeah, every time like I
would read through it while
sitting in voice chat with
friends and then I just it would
be good, i would be so slow at
reading the Pester logs and
stuff and they'll be like how's
it going? And you're like you
know, i'm like I fucking hate
this. This is my homework that
I'm doing.
Jackie: Yeah, so it was like the
long Pester logs you didn't
like, or the whole overall vibe
or like. what did you not like
about this Act?
Moosie: Honestly, it was just
probably the Pester logs and
having to read all of the
different lead speak that one
really slowed me down. And two
was just like and mean to my
brain, like my brain did not
want to take in the information
or spend time decoding these
texts.
Jackie: Yeah, i did see in your
notes you were wondering if
there's a mod that got rid of it
, and I'm pretty sure there is.
Moosie: Okay, that would help my
old person brain or my. ADHD
brain or something.
Jackie: Yeah, it's either a mod
or it's already a setting.
that's in there, but yes.
Moosie: So maybe with five to
all turn that on. Like I feel
like you had mentioned before
that you recognize trolls based
on their typing quirks, but at
this point I'm just like maybe I
can learn that later and just
focus on what's being said right
now and not Yeah, no, that's
fair.
Jackie: It can be hard to parse.
There is a lot of reading.
Usually people just get invested
in one or more of the
characters and that's what keeps
them interested. But you not a
not a fan of any of the
characters.
Moosie: Nobody has really been
appealing to me this far, like
some people are just more
annoying than others. But yeah,
i didn't really like feel any
sort of feelings for anybody as
I was reading.
Jackie: That's incredible. I
mean to be fair about the
annoying thing they are based
off of, like internet trolls,
stereotype, terrible internet
people, So so I mean that is
kind of the point. I'm sorry,
This is so fun for me. I mean
like I don't even know why I'm
so ecstatic about your just
complete dislike of this act,
which is where you usually be
like no, no, no, skip acts one
through four. Just go straight
to to act five.
Moosie: I'm still probably like
John Egbert's, the best. He's
just so doofy.
Jackie: He is pretty doofy.
Moosie: As far as astrological
science go, i'm an Aries, so I
guess I like the dead robot lady
the most.
Jackie: Yeah, the dead frog
robot lady. now, i mean, a radio
is a pretty good, pretty good
one to choose. So I'm actually
going to make you go through all
of them and tell me your
thoughts. And Aries is the first
one, anyway, if you go by
astrological and blood cast
order.
Moosie: So I have them in a
different order, so you'll have
to tell me which order to go in.
Jackie: What order do you have
them in?
Moosie: I have like a summary
printout that shows red team and
then blue team And it also
lists out like their name, their
role, their planet name, their
online name, their loses, the
way they troll the kids.
Jackie: That's very good. Let's
go with your your order, then,
so I don't have to have it
mentally in my head and you have
it listed out.
Moosie: There's Carcat, which I
guess I also like a bit more
because he's angry but also
seems very stupid.
Jackie: Yeah, angry and very
stupid. Yeah, that that tracks.
Moosie: Yeah, some of them I
didn't really get a good feeling
for, like the blind girl kept
licking stuff and that was weird
and gross, like kind of adverse
to tongues.
Jackie: Oh, that's going to be
very hard with Terezi for sure.
Moosie: I don't even remember
very much about Gamze, except
just that he's a juggalo or
something.
Jackie: I'm a Capricorn, so
imagine imagine me seeing it So
like I've said this before, like
on Twitter and some other
places, but like I got so
excited when I saw the Capricorn
symbol pop up and it was purple
, because I love purple, yeah.
And then imagine my
disappointment, i'm sorry to
Gamze stands out there. I, i
love you all and I don't dislike
Gamze as much as I used to. I,
in fact, love the characters
more and more each time I read
this, but the first time I read
it, no, i did not want this
juggalo clown troll. Man is my
troll.
Moosie: Yeah, tavros seemed fine
, i don't. I also didn't get a
whole lot of a personality out
of him. Yeah, it was funny when
he got kissed. I like the
animations. Yeah, i like the
animations in the in Homestuck,
you know, those are still pretty
good.
Jackie: Yeah.
Moosie: I feel like Friske
definitely had a lot of stuff in
this act, and so now I know
that the meme I had been hearing
about her of risk it did
nothing wrong was incorrect.
Jackie: Yeah, that's why it's
the meme. It does everything
wrong and nothing wrong and
everything right and nothing
right Literally made to be a
controversial character.
Moosie: So I mean, yeah, she
seems to just be made to be bad
And maybe there were some things
that were trying to make her
look a little bit more
empathizable or something, but I
, yeah, there wasn't a whole lot
, i don't think. Also, i don't
understand troll relationships,
but we can get to that later.
Jackie: OK.
Moosie: I guess that's how it's
pronounced. I didn't really get
much of a personality from her
either. I mean, I know she
talked between some of them, but
I just don't remember much
about her. I know she's been
trolling through the first part
of the story.
Jackie: She I mean she had that
unrequited crush on on Friske
because she got all sad when she
realized she made the dress for
Friske and Friske wanted to use
it to seduce someone else.
Moosie: I remember that part. I
didn't realize that Friske had
premeditated the wearing address
to try to seduce someone to
Traverus Equious I why is he
perspire all of the time? He's
just a sweaty man. He seems
pretty unlikable. Usually I like
like the techie people or like
people who can build robots or
whatever, but doesn't seem like
a very friendly person.
Jackie: Yeah, he's hard to like
on a first read through.
Moosie: Iradia, I guess, also
kind of stood out because she
had a lot more story stuff. But
I also don't know a whole lot
about her or her personality,
besides just being dead.
Jackie: To be fair, that's kind
of her personality in this act
Nepeta definitely reminds me of
some people I've known on the
internet.
Moosie: Yeah, she's okay, but
kind of where in that place
where she can get annoying if
she's too being way too cutesy
or whatever about it. Yeah,
ariden apparently likes genocide
, so I don't like him. Fair
enough, faferi. I couldn't
fucking tolerate reading her
fucking pester logs.
Jackie: So I barely.
Moosie: I just skimmed through
those between her and Ariden.
Jackie: That's fair.
Moosie: Because, yeah, i just
can't stand reading those
parentheses for H's Solix seemed
okay, but also not a lot of
personality, and then he died. I
just noticed he has two
different color shoes.
Jackie: Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah.
Moosie: Yeah. So I mean, i guess
the people who stood out the
most for me were like Carcat,
tavros, varyska, iradia and yeah
, i guess maybe Equius a little
or something, and I know like
Solix was in there a lot, but I
don't know.
Jackie: That's fair And just
extremely. I feel like he would
have been. I feel like you have
this soul of someone who started
reading this right after,
problemslooth And, just like you
were like you have the soul of
one of the old school fans who
were like wait, what's with all
these trolls? What's this about
shipping? I don't care about any
of this. Let's go back to the
coding puns. Yeah.
Moosie: Where are these guys
getting in the way of the nerdy
shit?
Jackie: Extremely funny. I love
that for you. I mean, i hate
that for you because it does
mean that I just don't know how
you're going to feel about the
rest of it. Like this was a lot
of. Like this was a big
exposition act because you know
it was explaining everything
that happened to the trolls
before they started talking to
the humans.
Moosie: Yeah.
Jackie: And they obviously,
between the 12 of them, had a
lot of a backstory to go through
.
Moosie: Yeah, and another thing
with this whole sub act I guess
was I thinking about it so far
reading Homestuck we've been
waiting for the kids to get into
the game and then they're all
kind of like in the game and
getting ready And then we start
Act 5 1 and now we're still not
in the game. Now we have to
introduce 12 more people before
we see anything. And I'm just
sitting here like 2000 pages in
like are we actually going to
see anything in the game besides
just little bits? here and
there? Is there going to be an
adventure? they go on. Are we
just going to be sitting around
talking about shit for forever?
Yep.
Jackie: Yeah, because Jade still
isn't in the game.
Moosie: Damn.
Jackie: Yeah, oh yeah, i'm
really excited to see what you
think about Act 5, act 2. I
think it's going to be more of
what you want, but yeah, i'm not
sure. So you said that you also
didn't understand the troll
relationship stuff.
Moosie: Yeah, And there are like
two different parts of the
story that had really long
explanations for them And I did
print out the quadrant and I
tried to write stuff down but
then I just didn't read the
hussy explanation of it. I just
couldn't.
Jackie: To be fair, the second
explanation is just a copy and
paste of the first one, just all
in one page, instead of on like
four or five different pages.
Moosie: Okay, yeah, i'm just
like.
Jackie: Which then in the author
notes he copies and pastes it
side again.
Moosie: Okay, yes, is hating
hussy part of the experience.
Jackie: Oh, absolutely Yes, For
different reasons. People will
hate hussy for conflicting
reasons. Yes, hating hussy is an
essential part of Homestuck.
Okay, i feel. I feel like he
kind of does on purpose to point
because, like he does actively
make fun of the fans in the
comic in various ways, yeah, and
he makes one of the fans in the
author commentary, so it just
keeps on giving. I'm really sad,
actually. I keep talking about
author commentary. The last book
that's out deals with act five,
act two, and nothing since no
word. There's been no official
cancel, cancellation. But also,
like we're just kind of like
okay, we're not getting anything
from act six.
Moosie: So yeah, where was the
last book published, Like how
long ago?
Jackie: It was, was it Yeah?
March 10th 2020. So like almost
exactly three years.
Moosie: And it's been three
years since 2020. Yeah Right,
geez, yep, yep, yep. Well, i
don't know, i guess you could
blame it on COVID.
Jackie: Can you though I think
there's plenty more that was
going on in 2019, 2020 to blame
it on, because that's also
around the time that it was
announced that Hussey left? what
pumpkin, so like that was.
Another thing is like oh so are
we not getting anything more?
But I mean also that's what I
mean like it's been a whole lot.
Other people have probably
recorded the whole descent of
Viz doing bullshit and just like
, because, like Viz used to like
really promote homestuck stuff.
Because I was. I looked it up a
bit today And whenever they
first announced that they
acquired homestuck in whatever
rights it's all weird Geo has a
post that explains it more They
had like like Viz had like a
like on their booth, they had
like homestuck banners at like
conventions and stuff, like they
really promoted it as a thing,
and now it's just just nothing,
just nothing. Yeah. So I don't
know. We're kind of hopeful
because this one, this one cafe
in California right, california
Requiem Cafe, i think it's
called is hosting a homestuck
event for 413 and has like new
official merch. So people are
excited about that and hope that
means something's happening,
but I don't think it does. So
that's where I'm at.
Moosie: So, speaking of 413. So
John and them start playing the
game on his birthday and then
the trolls start playing on
Carcats wriggling day. Is that
relevant or is that a
coincidence?
Jackie: So it's kind of in the
way that, like numbers are
relevant. 612 is Carcat day, so
June 12th, so 612 will pop up
over and over. In reference to
the trolls, okay, i think it's
said at this point somewhere
that their session lasts for 612
hours. It's just one of those.
413 pops up everywhere, 612 pops
up. Well, they do live.
Moosie: Okay, i was wondering if
it was related to like, i don't
know, the game triggers on a
birthday or blah, blah, blah.
Jackie: It's. it's more like
solidifying car cat, as the John
parallel for the trolls, uh-huh
.
Moosie: Okay.
Jackie: Yeah, i mean there might
be more meta about it or I
could be missing something, but
it's more just putting the
parallels there. Uh-huh, i'm
stuck at something, if not
repeating the same thing, but a
little bit different all about
patterns, yeah, patterns and
references, and in jokes.
Moosie: So my question for you
is when did you start enjoying
home stuck?
Jackie: I think it was act five.
Well, you know, probably like
the ending animation for act
four was was really big And I
think that just tugged on a big
emotional thing more than like
anything else had at that point,
and that got me hooked. And
then I I loved all the stuff.
Well, i'm trying to remember. I
think at some point I was
frustrated at wanting to go back
to the humans and figuring out
what's going on with them, and
Especially towards the beginning
of act five, act one, i had a
hard time getting into it
because I'm like, okay, well, i
have to start over with all
these people, but as we got in
deeper and again, you know, make
her pay another, like basically
end of act animation, and in
fact animations really get me, i
guess is what I'm saying. Yeah,
all the Learning, the trolls
and the discourse between the
trolls Got me. But you know,
again it's hard whenever you do
focus on trolls that I cared
less about than others. I don't
know, like at this point where
we're about halfway through, i
think, act five, act two, i
can't remember if act six is the
like, the entire second act,
half of home stuck like
lengthwise or Maybe about now is
about half of home stuck
lengthwise, but um, yeah, cuz
the last page it says is 8000.
Moosie: Well, is this the
rapture and credits? that's act
seven or something. Yeah 8,130
and we just got to 2625.
Jackie: God, there are so many
pages.
Moosie: It also would have
helped if I had, if I had a map
in a way of like how many, how
much words are on each page? It
would have helped me to realize
that the last handful of pages
in Act five one are just like
mostly pictures and not having
to like yeah, yeah, being like
okay, i, it's not gonna be
another a hundred pages of
pester logs three.
Jackie: Yeah, that that is hard
Because, yeah, sometimes the
pester logs are Just you have to
keep scrolling and scrolling
and scrolling. It's so long and
sometimes, yeah, it's, it's 20
pages. Of this hasn't happened
yet, But there's a point later
on where it's just like two
characters looking at each other
And then they just like one
panel is one, the other, and
then the next page is the panel
of the other, and then it's back
to the first and just back and
forth, like zooming in for like
several in a row. Yeah that's
why page numbers are just so
hard to like go by, especially,
and then if you include that
there's more mini games coming
up right. Okay, yeah so, and
some of them are kind of lengthy
.
Moosie: I'm gonna make a note to
see if anyone has logged out
how, how many, how much text is
on each page. I mean, cuz that
can be done by a computer as
well for the most part. Yeah, to
count that.
Jackie: I feel like I remember
act 5, act 2 being a lot more
action, but I could be
forgetting more of those memos.
Yeah, I mean there's definitely
more of the memos. Those were
all so hard to follow. Yeah, i
think you're, i think, really
getting that that mod that gets
rid of Trill quirks, the typing
quirks, is gonna help.
Moosie: Yeah, cuz like I can
read books I I read books. I've
read lots of pages of text. It's
just that when it's Lots of
pages of text and then everyone
has different lead speak, and
then your brain has to do that a
bunch of extra work of decoding
everything. Yeah which you know
. If you're reading it fresh and
you only got a few pages at a
time or whatever, then that
would have been More doable, i
think. Then, just being like
okay. I have 600 pages to read.
Here we go.
Jackie: Yeah, it doesn't help
that you were. We're sick off
and on in parts of it, so it's
not like yes, also the brain fog
the brain fog. Brain fog is
real. I was. I was just telling
you that I What I recorded a a
t-terapy g episode Last night. I
have no idea if it's gonna be
out by the time this episode is
out. I no idea. Anyway, I
created that character when I
was in a sick brain fog, So I
started the the game up
yesterday being like okay,
What's my character? Yeah, who
is this?
Moosie: I Guess my last note
about this like the story from a
meta perspective versus you
know I have notes asking for
clarification on stuff that
actually happened But like
something I've been asking
myself with this and with Final
Fantasy 14 because I just
finished Endwalker, Which is the
last expansion for now was like
can a story really be as good
as people say that it is if it's
not paced Well? like, if the
execution is bad, can the story
still be considered good?
Jackie: Yeah, even. Even Hesse
mentioned in the commentary that
people had problems with the
pacing of of this act.
Moosie: Yeah, with Final Fantasy
14, like everyone's, like this
is the best Final Fantasy story
ever and I'm just like the first
3, 4ths of each expansion suck
and then the last part is good.
Yeah, i know part of the
constraints here are like with
Final Fantasy It's an MMO, so
you have to give content to play
And, with home stuck, it was a
web comic, so it wasn't like you
know a book where you write at
the whole book and then you send
it to an editor to make it
better.
Jackie: God forbid, anyone tried
to tell Hesse to. I can't
imagine an editor trying to deal
with Hesse. To be quite honest,
yeah, the guy just talks like
that Because we have access to
like some emails that they've
sent between people of like very
serious things and they just
That's just how Hesse talks. Hmm
, i don't know if an editor
would help. It's what I'm saying
.
Moosie: Yeah.
Jackie: It's like how, like some
books, like the book series,
get popular and like the first
couple of books are like, edited
pretty well, but then they get
too popular And so the author
gets to reject things more And
so the editing gets a lot worse.
Hustle would be like that from
the start.
Moosie: And like I am keeping in
mind that, yeah, this is a web
comic and this you know, you're
kind of getting a different
experience reading it now versus
when it was brand new. Like
there are still things I
appreciate about the web comic,
but I'm also just like OK,
here's my homework. I got to
read Homestuck.
Jackie: Yeah, i think it would
be funny. I feel like I said
this on the last episode too.
I'm going to say it again
because I can't remember, but I
think it'd be funny to just like
on 413, like do that Dracula
daily thing and just like
release however many pages of
Homestuck came out on 413. And
then on every day, like release
those pages and just like you.
So you get the experience as if
you were first reading it. And
then there's one point in Act 6
that we went months and months
without getting an update, and
so it's like you would just get
months and months and just not
have a Homestuck update, and
then you get it.
Moosie: So I have questions
about the story, just to like
clarify stuff as well.
Jackie: God, especially if you
just skimmed through, like what
Fafiri was saying, like yeah.
Moosie: I did read through the
summary from the raffaename page
, probably 100 pages from the
end, maybe ish is where I
stopped and just read the
summary And then I continued
reading. Ok, so there is a space
demon and the space demon has
followers. The space demon gets
summoned when the universe is
destroyed because of a tilde
death program virus. The demon
is called Lord English And then
our is the demon that stops them
from opening the door. Also the
same demon.
Jackie: So that is supposed to
be vague. And I also want to
point out that there are
unreliable narrators in
Homestuck, people who think that
they're saying true things but
also have their own limited
knowledge. Ok, at this point
it's supposed to be a theory
crafting thing.
Moosie: OK, so from what I
gathered, something that the
kids did And I forgot what, if
it was mentioned at all
something that the kids did
caused the scratch question.
Jackie: Again you're not
supposed to understand this at
this point.
Moosie: OK, but basically that's
why the trolls are trolling the
kids is because they somehow
got on the way of them being
able to open that door by
summoning the demon thingy.
Jackie: Yeah, this is going to
be act by that too. Is where
you're going to explain all this
.
Moosie: OK, what am I supposed
to know what a scratch is?
Jackie: yet Absolutely not. Ok.
I'll give you a hint It's being
used incorrectly, So you're not
supposed to know what it is. And
even if you did, it's wrong.
Moosie: Yeah, they just have the
gif of the flashing blob behind
the timeline log and just like,
I guess that's the scratch, I
don't. And then the scrub or
scrub was found in the ruins and
then adapted, I think by Solix
or something. I don't remember
exactly where the game comes
from for the kids themselves.
Jackie: It was just a game that
was released and was, like,
talked about in a game magazine,
so, like you, don't know any
farther than that except that it
was being. I don't think so. I
think it's just like it was just
a normal game being released.
Moosie: So I mean, clearly we
don't know yet, but I'm just
wondering if, like, it was made
by the demon or demon followers
or something like that. I'm just
still very interested in like,
what the fuck is scrub and sperm
and how did they come to be and
how are they related to the
real world in the story. Let's
see. I already asked why a
coquias perspires so much.
Jackie: Like, yeah, a queues is
just a sweaty, sweaty man.
Moosie: And then also like
already has a bot, jade has a
bot. Is there a relationship
between the box or just does
Hussie only know how to draw
robots in one way?
Jackie: Nah, hussie just knows
how to draw robots in one way. I
think it's just like a lot of
the author commentary talks
about the parallels between
various kids and the trolls, and
Jade just has a lot of
parallels with the radio and
Canaya and Nipeta. I think we're
like the three main characters
that that had paid parallels.
Moosie: OK, so if we take 12
divided by four, each kid has
three trolls that relate into it
.
Jackie: I don't know if that's
actually like an on purpose
thing, i remember. I only
remember Dave being mentioned in
relation to Aridon and Solux,
and then John with Carcat. Of
course, yeah, but yeah, i don't
know if it's as clear cut as
that.
Moosie: I wouldn't put it past
him. Yeah, yeah, so that's kind
of. I'm just perhaps like I'm
less interested in the troll
characters and I'm more
interested in the world itself
and that whole, how that's put
together. And then the till
death programming language
doesn't make sense.
Jackie: Yeah, yeah, it was more
just a nice pun. Yes, I suppose
it was more just a pun. Is that?
is that better? take away the
word nice.
Moosie: Sure, it was Period Yeah
.
Jackie: So act five. Act two
does deal more with the world
building, for sure, but you know
every time that Homestuck
answers one question, it asks
five more. So I don't know how
satisfying it's going to be for
you, necessarily, oh my God.
Moosie: Looking at the raw thing
, name page. So act five one is
636 pages with 62,000 words and
text. Five two is the number of
words and text. Two thousand
words and text. Five two is one
thousand four hundred and eighty
one pages with one hundred and
fifty thousand words and text.
Jesus Christ, i'm really going
to have to pace myself.
Jackie: Yeah, pace yourself and
install that fucking a Mod or
feature, whichever it is.
Moosie: Yeah, and part of me is
wondering if if I should kind of
like because the synopsis seems
to be on this page anyway, also
in the same order as the comic,
it doesn't seem to like jump
ahead, much Like maybe I should
read part of the synopsis before
reading the comic, to be like
this is what I'm actually seeing
, because I don't comprehend
what I'm seeing. When I'm
reading the comic I'm like I
don't, and I read the summary
after I'm like oh, that's what's
happened.
Jackie: That's up to you. I
don't know. you know just on
your basis, on how much you you
want a peer experience or a
career at spoilers I will say I
don't know how many of the the
words might be technically
optional, but there is a mini
game where you run around and
can talk to characters and you
don't have to talk to all of the
characters.
Moosie: Yeah Well the words of
media for five one is one
thousand, but the words in media
is twenty four thousand.
Jackie: Oh, that's right, That
would be media rather than text.
I was hoping there'd be
something there, And that also.
I mean not that it would
necessarily account for that big
of a gap, but the recap is also
. there are two recaps in in
this.
Moosie: OK, how lovely of Hussie
for them to recap things for us
periodically.
Jackie: Yeah, I just might be
the last one. I don't remember
that continuing in act six.
Moosie: And then they also lists
end of act five, which is
twenty nine texts, two and nine
words in a recap. Maybe it's a
recap, i don't know. Yeah,
there's a lot.
Jackie: That is funny. It's just
so many fewer pages, but like
just so many words.
Moosie: It's almost like double
the pages from five one, but
like maybe three times the
amount of text. it feels like,
well, not quite, but yeah, i'll
have to just do some division
and figure out like when we're
going to record next and just
try to read every day.
Jackie: Yeah, I mean we can, we
can take it slower. I've been
splitting up the episodes to
where it's like you know,
because we release an episode
every two weeks but I've had
like a fan stuck episode, So
it's been like one of our
episodes really releases like
once a month just to give us
more space, especially with my
move, kind of messing stuff up
for me.
Moosie: Yeah.
Jackie: I'm really just like
sitting here trying to figure
out if you're going to feel more
satisfied on explanations at
the end of act 5, act 2, or if
it's going to be.
Moosie: If I can install that
mod and if I can paste myself
and not try to read like 200
pages in one sitting At a time,
it might go a lot better for me.
I just tend to not read it more
casually because I have to like
get out my notebook and then
get out my my stickers of all
the troll heads so I can keep
track of who is who when I'm
writing my notes, and then get
out my troll reference sheet and
all of that. So it's not like I
just sit here and read it for
funsies. It's like a it's
homework, like writing notes and
stuff. But if I were reading it
without taking notes I feel
like I just completely lost.
Jackie: That's fair There's.
there's a lot to keep track of.
Moosie: But I just have the
feeling like it's a more
satisfying read the second time
around.
Jackie: Yeah, especially since,
like you know, there's
foreshadowing, both intentional
and unintentional, and has his
part that you, you start putting
together or you just start like
just just things click into
place a lot easier. And Yeah,
like this time, like I said, i
didn't even read the entirety,
like I started when I started
reading act five, act one, this
time, i started reading
literally every word and then
I'm just like no, i'm just
skimming and I'm going to read
the author commentary. And then
I've talked about it a lot on on
on Twitter. I've been posting
on verification my thoughts,
which is mostly there's just a
bunch of risk a meta that
doesn't even make sense, that
that we just can't even get into
yet because, like, there's so
much for risk is arc that I mean
you just haven't seen, so it's
hard to get into. Risk a meta.
They're just characters that
Hussie like, likes and doesn't
like and he tries to play it off
in the author commentary that,
no, they don't like hate
characters and things aren't
happening to this character
because they hate this character
. Blah, blah, blah. Like no, but
you do, you do express disdain
for certain characters actively.
I don't know, i don't know.
Author commentary is a blessing
in a curse. Yeah, oh, there's so
many doomsday devices and act
five, act one that I just forgot
about. Like there's the code
that our cat runs that soul
looks. Gave, gave him.
Moosie: Yeah, virus that
universe.
Jackie: There is the doomsday
device that risk created, like
started to create for Eridan.
And then I don't know if it said
in text, but an author
commentary apparently aqueous
actually did most of the work on
the doomsday device, which led
me to say like, okay, so risk
wanted to take credit for a
radio bot despite having not
actually worked on it, and is
taking credit for making this
doomsday device for Eridan that
she actually didn't do most of
the work on and just repeatedly
likes to take credit for things
that she didn't actually do. So
is risk the Thomas Edison slash,
elon Musk of the troll world,
food for thought, but for
doomsday devices. There's also,
whenever Terezzes lesses egg
hatches, that drops a big old
skull on a doomsday device. Oh
yeah, and then there's the What
is it called? the ultimate glove
, or whatever.
Moosie: Yeah the the something
glove.
Jackie: I should know it because
it's a word that gets used the
vast glove, the vast glove the
vast glove that destroys all of
troll kind.
Moosie: What? why does the
leucis do that?
Jackie: I know it was dying, but
So I forget if it's clear in
the thing, because again I read
most of the author commentary.
But that's actually a horror
terror that got put on the
planet.
Moosie: Was that related to that
book that Rose had a horror
terror?
Jackie: Yeah, so the book was
originally just supposed to be a
joke see, joke like haha, look
it's. it's like HP, lovecraft,
but it's not and then they just
ended up turning into a real
thing. But yeah, just lots of
doomsday devices. I do like how
there are tragic events and
Homestuck that are just
portrayed humorously. I don't
know. it's very funny, like
Tresi's losses, like being born
and immediately dying, is
captioned with unsurprising
development and then Tresi
reacting to it is with genuine
distress to show like, yes, this
is tragic, tresi is upset about
this, but it's also fucking
funny. And then, like a brisket,
getting her eye and arm blown
off is fucking funny because
she's like how am I going to die
? And the ball is like I'm going
to blow up in your face and
then it blows up in her face.
It's very funny And I just like
that.
Moosie: But then she didn't die.
Jackie: Yeah, she didn't die. Oh
yeah, one of the characters
that Hussie unapologetically
loves and like roots for all the
time is equious, which is
extremely funny to me.
Moosie: The sweaty one.
Jackie: The sweaty one Also.
this will become more apparent
as we continue to read Homestuck
, But Hussie pointed out a line
that that they saw online.
someone else described these two
characters but to resise
chaotic, lawful and Frisca is
evil good.
Moosie: Huh, like evil lawful or
just chaotic good.
Jackie: Like that's the thing,
is they just like don't
subscribe to like the typical
like thing. So it's so Tresi,
chaotic, lawful, frisca, evil,
good, okay.
Moosie: I see.
Jackie: I do. I do want to pet a
shipping chart. I wish we had
the whole thing, yeah, her whole
shipping wall. I think that
would be fun, especially because
she has like little notes on it
and stuff. Why does she have a
shipping wall? She's just one of
the people who, who, who ships
her friends.
Moosie: Yeah, i read somewhere
that you shouldn't be shipping
real people, but I guess these
aren't real people.
Jackie: See, yeah, i also think
that, like I don't think you
should make you shipping other
people their problem, i think
it's only natural that you
secretly ship other people. Yeah
, i think you see two people and
just go.
Moosie: And definitely I have
two friends. I'm like you guys.
You guys have chemistry, but
you're not admitting it.
Jackie: I think that's fine, as
long as you don't make it their
problem, which you know. Nipeta
just has her wall in her own
cave, far away from everyone
else and just updates it weird.
Yeah, i mean she is supposed to
be the weird furry shipper,
right.
Moosie: Yeah, I as far as like
the troll romances. How much is
that going to come into play?
Jackie: like the quadrants, yeah
, or just the shipping in
general.
Moosie: Oh, I mean like the
quadrant types and what each
type means.
Jackie: No, i mean it's more
there as a running gag, that
like you'll have the humans like
John there who will just not
understand it, like they're
still going to be references to
it, but like I don't think,
hussie, like I don't think
Homestuck ever operates on you
being forced to understand their
quadrants.
Moosie: Okay.
Jackie: Like people get into
arguments about which quadrants
people actually fit in and how
to interpret those and stuff
like that, but that's more for,
like, phantom meta than it is in
in the comic. You need to
understand this for sure. Yeah,
i don't think that it's super
required. Like I think that the
two main ones that is, like
sometimes you like people in a
way that you like, like them,
like them, and sometimes you
like people in a way that you
hate them, like them, are them.
And then sometimes you like
people in a way that's really
just seems like best friends and
me saying that will get me
massacred online. And then the
fourth way no one fucking knows.
Moosie: Yeah.
Jackie: People will tell you
that they know how it works and
some people might. But yeah, no,
it's not a. I don't know like
it comes up the different
flavors of the relationship, but
like it's usually met with, i
don't know if this is actually
how it's supposed to work. It
seems really weird and bad.
Maybe, i don't know. Yeah, i
don't think you not
understanding how it works is
going to enter you at all.
Moosie: Because that wall of
text. I was like I see, why are
you doing this to me?
Jackie: because because has he
hates you and everyone else who
has ever read Homestuck, or
everyone's to also. So one fun
thing from the commentary is so
Ayriden is a query is right, and
so query is is one of those. So
like sometime in I believe it's
like the medieval period,
someone decided to add elements
to the zodiac right. It did not
originally back and, like the
ancient Greece times, did not
have elements ascribed to them
as far as I'm aware. But
sometime they decided to add it
and so that meant that you had
some clear, clear water signs
that they did not make water
because they couldn't have a
couple water back to back. So
Aquarius ended up being an air
sign and has. He was very mad
about that, but that's why
Ayriden seahorse dad flies In.
Why some other aquatic like
lusci fly is because Aquarius is
an air sign.
Moosie: And that's just very
funny to me. He hasn't been
underwater very much.
Jackie: Yeah, I think that's
what it said. If not, I'm going
to say that's what it said.
Moosie: Yeah, it was something
like she feathery or something
said like for someone who hates
the land dwellers, you spend a
lot of time up there, or
something like that.
Jackie: Yeah, no, no, he for
sure mainly stays above water.
It's just, it's just so dumb. I
say this also as a Capricorn,
who is a literal like fish goat.
I got a fish tail and I'm an
earth sign.
Moosie: Well, clearly the people
assigning elements just did not
foresee the home stuck.
Jackie: Yeah, i mean really,
they just, they just I don't
know I'd have to research it to
really figure out what they were
thinking, but it really just
feels like they didn't want like
all the water signs back to
back, like next to each other,
so they had to split it up, like
you know earth, air, water,
fire And it just didn't work out
for the actual symbolism that
was there.
Moosie: Yeah, sometimes you just
got to have the water signs
back to back.
Jackie: Yeah, Which is really to
say if you're into the occult
neopaganism, whatever, just
throw it all away and do
whatever you want with it.
People back then didn't know
what they were saying. You can
say, you can have the say now.
They're just as dumb as you are.
Moosie: Indeed Psy tangent to my
non existent occultist podcast.
Jackie: Okay, yeah, i think
that's all the relevant stuff.
Just a lot of it was me copying
and pasting Briska Metta,
because Briska Briska just she's
a complicated character, but
there are just fans out there
who refuse to see her, or any
character, as a complicated
character And it's very
frustrating. I mean, you've
heard the Briska though did
nothing wrong meme. A lot of
people say that like tongue in
cheek. Some people say that and
they mean it. So in other media,
are you a big like chipper
person?
Moosie: Usually I'm pretty
oblivious. I don't necessarily
know if there's undercurrents of
feelings there until it's not
in the subtext.
Jackie: Yeah, Do you. And you
don't do any like personal
shipping, even if there's no
like intentional chemistry, you
don't do any pairings yourself.
No shipping wall.
Moosie: I was trying to think of
, like what media I've even
watched recently to do that, And
like I watched through shadow
of bone recently. But I'm just
like I like the relationships
that are already here. Fair
enough, Yeah. I can't think of.
let's see, oh, i guess again in
Final Fantasy 14, i want Sid and
Nero to be boyfriends, but
that's like really the only
thing I can think of.
Jackie: That's fair. You know
it's not everyone's big thing.
Big thing in Homestuck is we
have so many characters, so many
characters. This isn't even all
the main characters yet.
Moosie: Oh, good Yeah.
Jackie: In case you were worried
. You're like I don't think
there's enough characters
introduced yet. Now, fear not,
there are more main characters
to be introduced.
Moosie: Need to start that
spreadsheet of main character
information.
Jackie: Yeah, and it kind of
depends on how you define main
character. I personally say
there are six more main
characters to be introduced And
it leads to a lot of shipping.
Yeah, so overall not a huge fan
of Act 5. Act 1, big old
exposition background lore dump
Well, not really lore character,
lore, i guess dump.
Moosie: Yeah, part of it's also.
just I tend to read like again
200 pages at a time And then I'm
like I spend like half an hour
on one Pester log page. I'm just
angry.
Jackie: Yeah, that's, that's
fair. Hopefully there will be
more world building lore next
time. That will be nice. I'm
also trying to think, because
some of the media in text, not
in text, some of the text in the
media might be hard to read.
Okay, i think that's actually
fine. I think it'll be fine.
Yeah, i can't remember if it
might also just have a summary
beneath it of what it says. I
can't remember exactly. We'll
see.
Moosie: We'll burn that bridge
when we get there.
Jackie: Yeah, absolutely, and
yeah, and you can hit me up in
between if you need some
explanation of something, or we
could just wait till here and I
can explain to you that Equius
is just a sweaty man and there's
no.
Moosie: I mean, why does it keep
getting brought up? What is the
relevance?
Jackie: Equius just meant to be
this very creepy, gross seeming
guy in being in like him,
sweating with his glasses or
something. Yeah, he just breaks
things. But it technically might
have narrative symbol, the
symbolism later, which would be
which I don't know author
commentary stuff for stuff.
That's just entirely not
relevant right now. But I think
it's just meant like he's a
strong boy and accidentally
breaks things And, you know,
maybe his sweaty has to do with
how he's has this like he's
mutantly strong even for his
cast. But now it's just supposed
to be like he's getting hot and
bothered in conversations and
that is shown as him being
sweaty and needing a towel.
Moosie: Gross.
Jackie: Yeah, yeah, but I'm sure
all the musk lovers out there
are real into it. Oh, sorry,
side note that I just remembered
. So I had read earlier that the
reason Tavros is in a
wheelchair is because people
theorized he was in a wheelchair
from his first. You know the
first like look that you got at
him back in act four whenever
you just got like one snapshot
of like the trolls that were
doing the trolling is for some
reason his snapshot looked like
he was in a wheelchair, even
though he wasn't at the time. In
Hussey's mind He was not in a
wheelchair, he was just supposed
to be sitting at a computer
desk. But but the but part of
the fandom just decided he was
in a wheelchair and has he's
like, yeah, sure, so it's really
not briscus fault. Yeah, you
guys forced Riska to throw
Tavros off a cliff. Look what
you did. It's. It's really funny
whenever fandom stuff comes in,
because I didn't know that that
bit of war, uh huh, but yeah,
any, any closing thoughts before
we wrap up Somebody once told
me the world is going to roll me
.
Moosie: No, I had an accident.
No, I can't think of anything.
Jackie: OK, cool Yeah. so plug
your, plug your, plug your shit.
Moosie: Go to mooseadieitio and
look at my video games and zines
. Thanks, Awesome.
Jackie: And remember, guys, if
you have any Homestuck project
coming up, you can go ahead and
DM me on Twitter or join the
discord and DM me or whatever,
and I'll try to get you. Um, i'm
hopefully scheduling one coming
up. We'll see if I do more. Um,
and yeah, always out here to to
promote other projects And we
will see you in two weeks.